I think the love affair with nuclear power is largely due to the desire to keep power generation a monopoly or near-monopoly. Those faggy solar panels would allow local (even indidual/household) power generation, and we can't have that, now can we?

It's time for the population of the U.S. to reconsider nuclear power, like the Germans, Italians, and Swiss have. Nuclear power is overly dangerous, and overly subsidized- time to get serious about shutting down reactors.

UPDATE: I changed the post title to better reflect the nature of the post. Thom Hartmann has been discussing it on his radio show, but the story seems to have been buried- I can't even find it among Yahoo's news headlines.

I'm getting kind of freaked out about nuclear power now too. After what happened in Japan I just don't know how people can be so gung-ho about it. But then I guess people were still horny to drill in the Gulf even after the oil spill. Mind bottling.

Unfortunately I don't believe that solar panels are anywhere near ready, even though there are promising new developments. Ultimately, the variability of the sun as well as the scale of manufacture required are getting in the way. Not everything is a conspiracy; centralized power generation is not going away any time soon, and not only for nefarious reasons.

Unfortunately I don't believe that solar panels are anywhere near ready

They're ready enough to cut your personal power bill and save you money over the long term, but it's hard to make the initial investment. That's not a guarantee of industrial power-generation capacity, but precluding the need for nuclear or coal to make up shortfall from other sources is probably a good thing.

I'm generally pro-nuclear generators of the safe variety, of which there are several designs, but they were all left by the roadside many decades ago when the chief goal of the nuclear industry was to create plutonium for warhead production and energy output was a side-effect.

Unfortunately I don't believe that solar panels are anywhere near ready, even though there are promising new developments

Yeah, solar panels alone won't get the job done, but I believe in the "1,000 magic shotgun pellets" approach rather than the "magic bullet" approach. Wind, solar, biomass, hydroelectric- there has to be a multi-pronged effort to generate power.

I'm generally pro-nuclear generators of the safe variety, of which there are several designs, but they were all left by the roadside many decades ago when the chief goal of the nuclear industry was to create plutonium for warhead production and energy output was a side-effect.

Yeah, and apparently the U.S. would have to ship spent fuel rods to France to be "recycled". The U.S. nuclear industry seems to be haunted by the shade of Operation Plowshare.

About Me

The Big Bad Bald Bastard is a character played by Monsieur _______ of the City of Y______. The role of the Bastard is a handy one to play on subways, walking the streets, and in dive-bars, when being a nerdy, bookish sort is not to one's advantage.